The term “Beloved Community” was first used by the philosopher-theologian Josiah Royce in the early 20th century. It was later made popular by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who envisioned it as a society based on justice, equal opportunity, and love for one’s fellow human beings.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke frequently and passionately about the “Beloved Community” in his writings and speeches. For him, it was a vision of a society where love and justice were the overarching values and where social evils, such as poverty, racism, and violence, were eliminated. He described it as a global society where all people could share in the wealth of the earth, and where poverty, hunger, and homelessness would not be tolerated.

One powerful excerpt from his writings states:

“The end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. It is this type of understanding and goodwill that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age. It is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of men.”

Dr. King’s vision of the beloved community is as idealistic as it is expansive. 57 years later some of us still labor to make it a reality against all odds. I am not at all sure that King’s global vision will come to pass, at least not very soon. I do believe that there are ways that we can and do experience the beloved community. First, we can intentionally build it among the people with whom we have contact. The second way we can experience the beloved community is that sometimes it just seems to “break out” among a group of people.  

The beloved community “broke out” for me during the Covid-19 pandemic. I’m retired and I am unfortunately in the “high risk” group. I couldn’t do much more than stay at home with my cards and my laptop. The isolation was awful. I was on Twitter then (pre-Musk), and I began to do a “Card for the Day” with tarot cards. This allowed me to connect with a group of really great people who shared many of my interests. This beloved community kept me sane during the quarantine phase of the pandemic.

Elon Musk completed his takeover of Twitter on October 27, 2022. I hung around for a while, hoping we could defend the vibe that had existed before, but that effort ultimately failed. Musk is too toxic and he holds all of the cards. The beloved community migrated to platforms like Substack, Bluesky and others. A group of us reconvened on Bluesky which is more like the early Twitter. My beloved community is now firmly settled on Bluesky, for now. The beloved community was stronger than Elon Musk.

In 1968, Dr. King spoke the following words, which are equally true today: “The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around… But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.” It’s about dark enough, and I could surely stand to see some light.

Syd Weedon
1/20/2025